Two free round trip tickets to San Jose, CA on Southwest

We have a wedding to attend in July 2016 in San Jose, California.  Weddings are a joyous occasion where you celebrate the beginning of a new chapter for the couple.  The food and entertainment are a plus also!

This is another opportunity for us to use our points towards free airline flights! First, I went to Southwest Airlines to check the cash price of the flights.  The cost for one round trip flight to San Jose came out to be $245.96 per person.  If we were to pay for both flights with cash, we would be paying $491.92.  That’s quite a bit of money. 

The cost for one round trip flight using Southwest Rapid Rewards points was only 14,180, or 7,090 points per person each way.  We used our Chase Sapphire Preferred credit card to transfer Ultimate Rewards points into Southwest Rapid Rewards points at a 1:1 transfer rate.  I booked one free round trip flight for my wife.  The total came out to be 14,180 points and $11.20.

Then I booked one free one-way flight for myself from SNA (Orange County) to SJC (San Jose) for 7,090 points and $5.60.

Earlier in the year, I earned a $100 airline fee credit from my AMEX Premier Rewards Gold card by purchasing a Southwest Airlines $100 gift card.  My mom also gave me her $100 airline fee credit from her personal AMEX Gold card.  This was the perfect time to redeem its value in combination with using points for our flights.  I booked a one-way return flight for myself from SJC to SNA and paid $122.98 using gift card balance.

By using a total of 21,270 points and paying $139.78 with Southwest gift cards ($11.20 + $5.60 + $122.98), we were able to save $491.92 for our flight.  We will use the savings towards hotel stay, food, wedding gift and entertainment!  

Where will your points take you?